What's in This Book

This edition of the book covers Version 2.0 of the JSP specification, which was released late 2003. It also covers the related JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL) specification, Version 1.1, also released late 2003.

You will learn how to use all the JSP standard elements and features, including elements for accessing JavaBeans components; separating the processing over multiple pages to increase reusability and simplify maintenance; and sharing information between pages, requests, and users. You will also learn how to use JSTL for tasks such as conditional processing, integration of database data, internationalization, and XML processing, as well as how to develop your own custom components for tasks not covered by the standard components.

The examples in this book guide you through solutions to common JSP design problems, from basic issues, such as retrieving and validating user input, to more advanced areas, such as developing a database-driven site, authenticating users, providing personalized content, caching data for better performance, and implementing internationalization. The last part of the book describes how you can combine JSP with other Java technologies; in particular, I describe the combination of JSP and servlets using the popular Apache Struts framework, and provide an overview of how JSP fits into the larger scope of J2EE.